The Last Place on Earth

Huntford, Roland. New York, Modern Library, 1999. [First published as Scott and Amundsen in 1979.].
  • Heroic Age 1901-1921.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

This tendentious work has split the community of Antarcticans woefully, with attacks on all sides: against Amundsen, particularly against Scott by the Huntford adherents, and fighting malice with malice, against Huntford himself. Few are wholly objective in this war, but it can be said that Huntford does present useful information when he stays away from anti-Scott speculation. Here are excerpts about reading on the various expeditions he covers.

The Log of a Sea-Waif: Being Recollections of the First Four Years of My Sea Life.

Bullen, Frank (Franklin) Thomas. New York: D. Appleton, 1899.
  • Arctic Reading: General
 Preview 

p. 20: There were no books on board of reading matter of any kind, except the necessary works on navigation on the captain’s shelf; so it was just as well that I could take some interest in our surroundings, if I was not to die mentally as most of the sailors seemed to have done…. they seemed totally ignorant of anything connected with the wonders of the sea.

No Man’s Land: A History of Spitsbergen from its Discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country.

Conway, Sir William Martin. Cambridge: University Press, 1906.
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

A general history of the archipelago, based on Conway’s studies and his earlier visits. Although he reviews a number of books in preparation for his manuscript, he does not here reveal the thoughtful reader who appears in his earlier narratves

Private Journal of George Comer while on the Relief Schooner George B. Cluett for the Crocker Land Expedition Party at Etah, North Greenland, 1915-1917

Comer, George. RB Coll: GG-4 at AMNH Lib.
  • 1915-17 Crocker Land Expedition Relief Schooner Cluett (George Comer).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

Expedition Outline: August 12, 1915 Upernavik to North Star Bay p. 13-38 Sept. 13, 1915 North Star Bay p. 39-43 Sept. 24, 1915 Parker Snow Bay p. 44-87 Dec. 26, 1915 North Star Bay p. 88-163 (Land party of Comer, Peter?, Dr. Hunt & 5 natives for long Winter at North Star Bay) Sept. 8, 1916 Etah until 8/3/17 p. 164-302 Aug. 4, 1917 On Neptune returning to Sydney p. 303-318

The Great Frozen Sea: A Personal Narrative of the Voyage of the “Alert” During the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6.

Markham, Albert Hastings. (London: Dalby Isbister, 1878).
  • 1875-76 British Naval Expedition in Search of North Pole (Captain George Nares aboard Alert and Discovery).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

Captain Markham was the cousin of Clements Markham and this is his account of the Nares voyage and the ship he commanded. He seems to have a commander’s confidence that all is well and must be well on his ship, and shaping the evidence accordingly. Even an unsuccessful and fatal sledge journey becomes a matter of pride and pleasure (p. 289).

Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

Wheeler, Sara. New York: Random House, 2002.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A splendid biography of one of the most valuable members of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

The Third Reich in Antarctica: The German Antarctic Expedition 1938-39.

Lüdecke, Cornelia and Colin Summerhayes. Bluntisham, Hunts. UK. Bluntisham Books, 2012.
  • 1938-39 German Antarctic Expedition (aboard Schwabenland).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Ignoring the potential onset of war, this German exploration involved study of whaling possibilities, the study of the usual scientific subjects, the search for raw materials and strategic military advantages, and land claims over what Norwegians had already claimed as Dronning Maud Land. It was a short trip during the Antarctic summer, and plans for subsequent expeditions were abandoned when WWII began. Its ship was the Schwabenland with Alfred Ritscher as leader of the expedition and Alfred Kottas as Captain of the ship. The book examines the accomplishments of the trip and debunks the various myths that had grown around this German initiative (secret bases, submarines, and UFOs) and dismisses them as fantasy.

Seasons with the Seahorses; Or, Sporting Adventures in the Northern Seas.

Lamont, James. New York: Harper, 1861.
  • 1858-59 British Private Journeys of "Sport and Discovery" (James Lamont).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

p. 80, in a description of the cabin: As for reading, it is next to impossible, for I defy any body to read long sitting on a locker nine inches broad; also, the bunks are too dark, and if we try to read in them we generally go to sleep.

Captain Sverdrup’s expedition to Northern Greenland.

Sverdrup, Otto. Geographical Journal 13 (Feb 1899) 136-147.
  • 1898-1902 Swedish Ship and Sledging Expedition to Northern Greenland (Led by Otto Sverdrup aboard Fram).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

Re the 1898-1902 ship and sledging expedition aboard the Fram, designed to survey the northern coast of Greenland, map its coastline, and to determine the extent of its northern islands. The article includes a description of Fram’s equipment.

In Search of a Penguin’s Egg.

Norman, Nelson. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009.
  • 1958-59 British FIDS (BAS) Expedition at Halley Bay.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Norman Nelson was in the British National Service when he was transferred to a FIDS expedition to the Falklands and the Antarctic Peninsula in 1958. Raymond Priestley introduced him to the prospect of following up on Edward Wilson’s penguin studies of 1911. His experience was similar.